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Most parents want their children to spend time outside, away from phones, TV, and video games, and gardening is an excellent method to accomplish this.
However, new research indicates that there are several other reasons to start a garden with your children.
The advantages range from improving children’s intelligence to making them healthier.
Ten excellent reasons to introduce children to gardening
It’s Science
Gardening is filled with science. Plant categorization, weather, soil, and plant pests and disease are all topics covered for children.
They are introduced to botany in a natural, hands-on manner, and recent research suggests that students who had gardening experiences as part of their school curriculum outperformed students who were not exposed to gardening in school on standardised scientific assessments.
They’ll Eat It
Kids enjoy digging up what they have grown, and then their curiosity takes over, and they want to taste it.
They Get connected to Nature
When children garden, they gain ownership of the plants they are growing. My own children have been attracted to the plants in the containers in our patio garden.
Children are less likely to be terrified of touching plants, getting soil on their hands, or being near bugs as they gain information about all the living things in the garden. When they become acquainted with what is in the garden, they are no longer terrified of the unknown.
Dirt Is Good for their Health
Several studies demonstrate that children raised on farms had fewer respiratory allergies, asthma attacks, and autoimmune illnesses than children raised in cities because children raised on farms are exposed to more microorganisms and fungi in the earth.
Allowing children to play in the dirt may make them healthier than keeping them tidy, clean, and inside.
It’s A Stress Reliever
A garden can be relaxing. Not that your Grade 4 is battling traffic, raising children, or dealing with the rigours of a high-pressure job, but even children can experience stress, and the garden can help alleviate it.
In fact, a study conducted in the Netherlands found that after 30 minutes of gardening, subjects who had been stressed prior to gardening had a completely restored happy mood. If the parents in the family are stressed, gardening with their children might help the entire family feel more harmonic.
Teaches Problem Solving Skills
Gardening teaches children problem-solving skills. ‘This trellis doesn’t function very well,’ they say. ‘How can we design one that is better suited to this type of plant?'”
Children in a garden may inquire, “What is eating this plant?” or “Is this tree dying?” When youngsters become engrossed in fixing difficulties in the garden, they want to conduct research to find the best solutions. They become into sleuths, first in the garden and progressing to the computers.
Strengthens Emotional Skills
Gardening teaches children responsibility, patience, perseverance, and how to deal with disappointment if their garden does not grow as they intended.
How do they work together with other siblings, friends, or classmates to do garden tasks?
These are character-building skills that youngsters can learn in the garden, according to studies.
It’s A Physical Activity
Gardening is good physical labour that uses muscles that aren’t typically used. Even the most seasoned gym-goer will admit to feeling achy the next day after working in the garden.
Gardening requires bending, stretching, digging, lifting, tugging, and raking. Gross and fine motor skills are used, and even the youngest gardener receives some physical exertion with easy activities.
Teaches Kids To Care For their Environment
When children begin harvesting fruit and flowers from a garden, they become aware of the garden’s impact on them as well as their impact on the garden. It is much easier to teach kids to care for the environment once they have had this practical experience.
Leads To A Longer Life
Adults who garden in their older years live longer lives, according to studies. Gardeners get off the sofa and be active in nature instead of being sedentary. Teaching children excellent habits while they are young increases the likelihood that they will follow them throughout their lives.
It Doesn’t Need a Lot Of Space
It’s difficult to picture growing a thriving garden when your backyard is a concrete patio or an apartment balcony. However, it is possible to do so in containers.
Choose some environmentally friendly containers with drainage holes at the bottom, fill them with potting mix, and then plant seeds or seedlings. Growing a herb garden on a sunny window sill is another alternative.
A Great Resource For Gardening with Kids
The Vegetable Gardener’s Container Bible: How to Grow a Bounty of Food in Pots, Tubs, and Other Containers by Edward C. Smith is an excellent book for getting started with a container garden.
This book instructs even inexperienced gardeners on how to cultivate organic food in short spaces. The book discusses container and tool selection, plant care, and pest management without the use of pesticides.
Flowers and veggies can thrive with a little knowledge and attentive care.
Plant a garden with your child today and watch them reap the advantages for a lifetime.
